Gettysburg football team to play in Division II

DALLASTOWN -- Gettysburg will play in Division II of the York-Adams Football League when the Warriors join the local league in the fall of 2014.

The York-Adams principals, during their spring meeting on Monday afternoon at Dallastown High School, approved a three-division alignment for 2014 and 2015 recommenced by the football committee.

The setup features eight teams in Division I, seven in Division II and eight in Division III. The schools were placed in divisions based on their enrollments.

Joining Gettysburg in Division II will be West York, Dover, York Suburban, Susquehannock, Kennard-Dale and Eastern York.

The Division I teams are Dallastown, York High, Red Lion, Central York, South Western, Spring Grove, New Oxford and Northeastern. Making up Division III will be Littlestown, Bermudian Springs, Biglerville, Hanover, Delone Catholic, Fairfield, York Catholic and York Tech. A clause in the league constitution allows York Tech -- a Class AAAA school -- to compete in Division III.

The changes from the 2013 schedule will have New Oxford and Northeastern moving from Division II to I, and York Suburban and Eastern switching from Division III to II.

The first three weeks of the season will be open, allowing individual schools to schedule their own games. A league schedule will be drawn up for weeks four through 10.

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There will be a rotating bye in Division II due to the odd number of teams.

"You can't cut it with 23 without a rotating bye," said South Western athletic director and football committee chairman Don Seidenstricker. "We would like to have three eight-team divisions, but we didn't want to wait (and see if another school would join the league). We wanted to be proactive and put the best possible schedule together."

Coaches recognized: Seven former coaches were recognized for their years of service with Outstanding Service Awards. The late Barb Grady was honored, along with Joe Stauffer, Ray Geesey, Dick Shoff, Dave Folkemer, Gardy Lawrence and Chuck Seidenstricker.

Grady directed Dover's girls' teams to five league titles, three county championships, four District 3 crowns and one state runner-up finish.

Stauffer was the head coach of Central's first championship football team (1963). He coached varsity football for 13 years and varsity baseball for 12 years.

Geesey coached the Dallastown boys' and girls' track and field teams for 16 seasons. His teams won 12 league titles and 187 meets. The 1984 Dallastown girls' team captured the District 3-AAA crown.

Shoff put in 27 years as Dallastown's head baseball coach. His 1987 team won the league championship.

Folkemer was a head girls' basketball coach for 10 years and head softball coach for 10 years at New Oxford High School.

Lawrence coached the New Oxford football team for 16 years along with four years at Bermudian Springs.

Seidenstricker spent 40 seasons on the football sideline at South Western coaching the offensive and defensive linemen. He and his brother, Don, the head coach, spent 26 seasons together, and the Mustangs won 13 league titles in that span.

Other news: In other league news:

---Three-person crews for boys' and girls' varsity basketball games will be used again next year, with the recommendation that there will continue to be recruitment and training of new officials.

---The York-Adams Softball Tournament semifinals were set for Friday, May 10, and the championship game is set for Monday, May 13. The Susquehannock, Spring Grove and New Oxford fields will be available for the games.

---The York-Adams Boys' Volleyball Tournament will take place on Monday, May 13, and Tuesday, May 14, at Dallastown High School.

---The league entered in a sponsorship agreement for championship events with Orthopedic and Spine Specialists (OSS) for the three years at $10,000 a year. Sponsorships of $5,000 and $3,000 are also available.